


Lionhearted

by Dubiousculturalartifact (222Ravens)



Series: Word of the Day [1]
Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Character Study, Pre-Star Trek: Into Darkness, probably..., word of the day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-29
Updated: 2017-04-29
Packaged: 2018-10-25 13:01:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10764789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/222Ravens/pseuds/Dubiousculturalartifact
Summary: Lionheartedadj.Definitions for lionhearted1.	exceptionally courageous or brave.





	Lionhearted

**Author's Note:**

> This is the start of a little writing project I've been thinking about for quite some time, but never quite jumped in on:
> 
> Namely, to use a dictionary's 'Word of The Day' as a short writing prompt, for a ficlet, taking the form of a character study, relationship moment, or similar small work
> 
> -Probably I'm going to aim for, let's say... under 1,000 words, over 200.  
> -Less than an hour, writing time.  
> -I've got Merriam-Webster & Dictionary.com, for added variety.  
> -Not sure how often I will update the series, probably not 100% daily, but I'm going to give it my best shot at keeping to some kind of regularity.

The thing about his brand of courage, is he never really let himself think of it as such.

 

It was a zero-sum game, a choice without a single dilemma. You survive, until you can’t. If you can’t, it’s because you won’t let the bastards win. Because someone else needs the chance to _get out_ , and if you blow yourself doing it, that’s a fair bargain. 

 

But you win either way, if you’re looking at things right. There’s no giving up. There’s no giving in, fading away, running from a fight. You don’t do that. It’s not in you to.

 

You win, you fight, and you never let them see the whites of your eyes. Never let them know that they’ve got you beat.

 

That’s not about courage.  Courage is bright and shiny and clean, about doing something despite the fact that you’re afraid. Courage is for people who allow the fact that they’ve got anything to lose. Who acknowledge losing as an option.

 

Losing isn’t an option when you’re already balanced on the edge. When you know exactly how close you can get to a fall, and still make it out the other side.

 

They don’t know that you don’t acknowledge fear, because you can’t. Because you just haven’t built in any kind of capacity for it, because there’s a line between failure, and survival, and a win, and that line is where the fear takes hold. So you can’t let it. Not ever.

 

It’s about the heart that you’ve got, and the fierce will, and spitting in the face of anyone who thinks doubt is something you can afford to have. Because they haven’t been where you’ve been, they don’t know what you’re capable of. They don’t know what you’ve held on to, what you’ve had to save, what it takes, every morning, to get up, and throw yourself back into the fray, because you don’t really have anything else, and most other people are worth more than you, but you stay on top anyway, because you don't know where else to go.

 

It’s not about courage. 

 

It’s just all that you’ve got.


End file.
